Isaiah 53, a beautiful yet hard to read prophecy of our Savior. You can't read it without feeling the pain and grief of our sin. Words such as; grief, affliction, sorrow, despised, oppressed, judgement, scourging, iniquities, anguish- these are the words He took for us. I feel the meaning of those words. What I deserve is gruesome. He took it. Verse 11 in this passage drives home the meaning for me, "As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities." The Gospel. The anguish of His soul. Oh Father. Oh how He loves us. Anguish with a hope.

I know that this is nothing of comparison, but when I hear the word anguish a memory comes to me. Residents were trying to rececitate Gerardo, then they were just practicing. I stood, watched, cried, and felt such anguish. But I also had a hope that ran parrallel to that anguish. The hope of glory for Gerardo. The hope and knowledge that he would see his God. God had hope, communion with us, restoration of relationship. Unbelievable. That is something worth life and living.